wobbling walls
Stone wall, house walls, school walls. what would happen if walls could be pushed over easily? What stop a wall from falling over? Record the children's responses before and after they complete the card. this is a good activity to assess their understanding of the purpose of overlapping or interlocking bricks.
Try testing the walls with and without the children holding them in place. what is the difference?
Which wall is strong? Which is weak?
Use stories such as The Three Little Pigs to talk about the strength fo materials. Observe brick patterns in the school walls and make rubbings of them. Look at lintels and how they are used to join parts of a wall to create a doorway or window.
Investigate how to turn corners when building walls. Use this information to make the wall stable.